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ELM Consulting, Saint Petersburg, FL (2026)

05/11/2026

One of the most important systems in my entire life?

👉 My list.

Not kidding.

If you take my list away from me, there’s a solid chance I become completely feral by noon 😂

My list is how I:

Remember things
Stay on task
Measure my productivity
Organize my day
Prioritize what actually matters

Because contrary to popular belief…

Your brain is NOT designed to store 900 loose tasks all day long.

And honestly?

That’s exactly what a lot of business owners are trying to do.

They’re keeping everything in their head:

Who needs a callback
What material needs ordered
Who still owes an invoice
What employee needed coaching
Which customer is waiting on pricing
What got forgotten yesterday

And eventually?

👉 Things start falling through the cracks.

Not because you’re lazy.
Not because you’re bad at business.

Because your brain is overloaded.

That’s why I’m obsessive about lists.

Not fancy productivity guru lists either 😅

Just ONE place outside my head where things live.

That’s the important part.

👉 The system has to exist somewhere you’ll actually CHECK IT.

Sticky notes all over your truck don’t count.
Random screenshots don’t count.
Mental notes DEFINITELY don’t count 😂

You need one reliable place where tasks go so your brain can stop trying to carry everything itself.

That single habit alone reduces stress massively.

And it translates directly into business operations too.

Because businesses without systems operate exactly like a person without a list:

Reactive
Scattered
Forgetting things
Constantly jumping between priorities

This is probably going to become its own mini-series inside this series because the way I build and organize my lists is VERY intentional.

There’s a reason they work.

But step one?

👉 Get it out of your head.

You cannot organize chaos if chaos only exists in your brain.

Let’s Grow Together 🌳

05/01/2026

to October 2014, not even a month into shop life, but certainly not new to the good ol' boys hard working crew at that point. I'd been surrounded by Tradies my whole life. I might have been stepping into something new career wise, but I was coming home to the place where I belonged.

05/01/2026

When I stumbled into the steel fabrication industry in 2014, I was just applying for a sales job on Craigslist.

I had no idea that over a decade later, I’d be able to say it challenged me, grew me, and shaped who I am in a massive way.

I bleed blue collar.
I love projects.
I love problems.

And I love helping the little guy win — especially in an industry where a lot of the odds are stacked against you.

I was built for this.

What I didn’t realize at the time…

Was how often I’d be the only woman in the room.

But I have been. Over and over again.

And along the way, I’ve had the opportunity to help bring more women into this industry — and that’s something I’m incredibly proud of.

There was one girl — we’ll call her Marie.

She came in for an interview for our prefab department.

No real experience. Nothing in the field.

And come to find out… she wasn’t even 18 yet.

I couldn’t hire her right then, but I told her:
Bring me your ID when you turn 18 — you’ve got the job.

Because something about her…

She had it.

Grit.
Drive.
A little bit of audacity.
Willing to learn.
Hungry to make something of herself.

What I didn’t know at the time…

Was that she was sleeping in her car.

This wasn’t just something she wanted —
it was something she needed.

She started at the bottom.

Pulling parts off the burn table.
Cleaning them.
Sorting them.

The kind of work most people don’t stick with.

About 5 years later…

I heard she’s now managing that department.

I’ve seen it happen in the office too.

Receptionists grow into bookkeeping roles…
Then into leadership positions…

Women stepping into spaces they were never “expected” to be in — and absolutely owning it.

Not every woman I’ve helped step into this industry sticks with it.

And that’s okay.

That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try.

But the ones who do?

They’re something else.

They’re tough.
They work their asses off.
They’re willing to learn.
They can hold their own.

And if we’re being honest…

They face more adversity than most.

I respect the hell out of every woman in this industry.

And I’m damn proud to say I’m one of them.

Happy Women in Construction Week 👷‍♀️🌳
Let’s Grow Together

04/30/2026

Following up on my last post, where we started breaking down the systems and processes I use in my every day life that translate to business, here’s our next tip in the segment:

Everything I own has a proper place.

My keys? Same spot.
Debit card? Same pocket in my purse.
Shoes? Back in the rack every time.

It probably looks a little obsessive from the outside…

But here’s the reality:

👉 The second my environment gets cluttered… my head does too.

⸻

If things don’t have a “home” in my life:

I’m:

* Looking for stuff
* Re-buying things I already own
* Forgetting what I was doing

Everything starts to feel scattered.

⸻

Now let’s translate that into business.

Most small trades businesses are dealing with the exact same thing…

Just with work instead of stuff.

⸻

Tasks don’t have a home.

So they:

* Float around
* Get picked up by whoever is available
* Or end up back on the owner

⸻

That’s where the chaos comes from.

Not because people aren’t working hard…

👉 But because there’s no clear place for the work to go.

⸻

Think of it like this:

Tasks are the “items”
Your team is where they belong

If there’s no designated place?

It’s like:

* Keys with no hook
* A phone with no charger
* Papers with no folder

👉 It just piles up and gets messy fast

⸻

When roles are clearly defined…

Work flows.

When they’re not…

Everything starts “floating”

⸻

In my personal life, things are organized down to the smallest details.

Not because I’m trying to be perfect…

👉 But because I know how quickly things fall apart without structure

⸻

Same goes for your business.

You don’t need more effort.

You need:

* Clear ownership
* Defined roles
* A place for everything to go

⸻

Be honest—

What’s something in your business right now
that doesn’t have a clear “home”?

⸻

Let’s Grow Together 🌳

04/28/2026

Real talk — this is probably not what you’d expect from someone who builds systems for a living.

I have ADHD.

And for most of my life, I was one of those “high performers” who had it completely masked.

From the outside, I looked:

Organized
On top of things
Super Type A

But the reality?

If I didn’t start building systems early on…

I would’ve never made it out of middle school.

I had to figure out:

Where everything lived
How to organize my notebooks
How to remember things that actually mattered

Because if I didn’t?

👉 Things fell apart fast.

Fast forward to now…

Go camping with me and you’ll see it immediately 😂

Yeah, I’ve got the basics:

Tent
Food
Cooking setup

But also…

Electric chainsaw
Flares
Full first aid kit (we’re talking tourniquets, not bandaids)
Fire extinguisher
Emergency blankets
Iodine tablets (yes, seriously)

Cooler packed with a full meal plan for days
Water for drinking… and separate water for washing hair
TP, sanitizer, all of it

And my Jeep?

Tow rope
Shovel
Oil, coolant, brake fluid
Full tool set
Extra bolts, parts, brake pads
Air compressor

…okay, I probably lost you somewhere in that list 😂

From the outside, it looks like:

👉 “Wow, she’s insanely Type A”

But anyone who actually knows me?

I’m the most laid back, easy-going person you’ll meet.

The truth is:

👉 I’m Type A in my systems so I can be relaxed everywhere else

Because without those systems?

I’m:

Losing my keys
Missing appointments
Leaving my debit card at a restaurant for two weeks (true story)

I don’t build systems because I love structure.

I build systems because:

👉 Without them, things break down

👉 With them, I can handle anything that comes my way

Car breaks down? I’ve got what I need
Something goes wrong? I’m prepared
Life happens? I pivot and keep moving

That same mindset is exactly how I approach businesses.

Most owners are stuck in reaction mode because:

They don’t have systems holding things together.

So everything depends on them.

You don’t need to become “more organized.”

You need systems that:

Keep things from falling through the cracks
Let other people step in
Take pressure off you

This is going to be a little series I start sharing —

👉 The things I do in real life
👉 And how they directly translate into running a better business

If you had to be honest…

Are you running your business…

Or is your business running you?

Let’s Grow Together 🌳

04/27/2026

I’ve got a small homestead here in St. Pete — part of that is a mini flock of 4 ducks. 🦤

When I let them out this morning and one of them was acting off… and if you know anything about birds, that’s never a “wait and see” situation. 🚩

Next thing I know:

Breezeway turned into a rehab space
Epsom salt bath in the bathroom claw tub fit for a queen but ran for a duck
Kitchen turned into a pharmacy and laboratory mixing supplements and meds.
Then there was the house reset and bleach down...because a duck in my bath tub....oy.😅

By the time everything was handled and she was stable… It was already 2 PM.

Stuff happens.
Life happens.

That’s part of choosing both the homestead life and being self-employed. 👉 Thankfully, my business didn’t fall apart while I dealt with it. Because it’s not built to rely on me being available every second.

If your small trades business starts to run off the rails when you step away for half a day… That’s usually a sign everything is running through you and you need to delegate.

A simple place to start fixing that: Spend a day or two writing down everything you do

Big things:
Client calls
Problem solving
Giving direction
Project Management

Small things:
Taking out trash
Watering plants
Daily office tasks

Then ask yourself:
👉 What can someone else own? Chances are it's a lot.

Even offloading the small stuff matters! It frees up your time and starts shifting responsibility away from you.

No, assigning someone the trash isn’t going to fix everything overnight… But it gets you thinking the right way: What should I be doing? What shouldn’t I be doing? What needs a process behind it so I can delegate this task with confidence to someone else?

That’s where real change starts.

04/23/2026

I see this all the time in small trades businesses:

The owner is doing:
Scheduling
Hiring
Problem solving
Customer calls

And wondering why they’re burnt out.

At some point, it’s not about working harder… it’s about building structure around you.

👉 What’s something you feel like you shouldn’t be doing anymore?

04/22/2026

Running a trades business is demanding — your systems and your people shouldn’t slow you down.

I help business owners build stronger teams and better processes so things run smoother, more consistently, and with less stress.

📞 (727) 490-8277
📩 [email protected]

Let’s grow together 🌳

04/22/2026

🚨 Trades Business Owners — Need Help Hiring? 🚨

If you’ve been:

Struggling to find reliable tradesmen, apprentices, or office support
Wasting time sorting through unqualified applicants
Or just don’t have time to handle hiring…

I can help 👇

I’m Erin with ELM Consulting 🌳 (Let’s Grow Together) — with 10+ years working in the trades, I know what to look for and how to find people who actually show up, do the work, and fit your team.

I hire for roles like:
🔧 HVAC • 🔨 Carpenters • ⚙️ Welders • 🛠️ Assembly • 🔩 Machinists
…and office roles like project managers, secretaries, and admin staff

✔ Job postings that attract the right candidates
✔ Screening & interview coordination
✔ Hiring recommendations you can trust

💰 Simple, affordable pricing. No retainers, hidden fees, or on going contracts.

🛡️ 30-Day Hiring Warranty

📩 [email protected]
📞 727-490-8277

ELM Consulting

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